Baby Sensory

Baby Sensory North West Kent has been running classes across this part of Kent since 2009. The Gravesend venue — Old Gravesendians Rugby Football Club at Fleetway Sports Ground — is one of several in the area, with other sessions running at Dartford, Ebbsfleet (Millbrook Garden Centre), Stone/Greenhithe and New Ash Green. On Wednesdays, two back-to-back sessions take place: Older Babies (4–13 months) at 10:00–11:00 and Younger Babies (0–5 months) at 11:30–12:30, both term time only. The franchise is led by Renee Micklefield, who has been a Baby Sensory class leader since September 2008 and serves as Regional Franchisor for South East London and Kent. She teaches across NW Kent venues throughout the week, alongside Hannah, Kelly and Mel.

Every session is built around a detailed lesson plan covering what babies touch, see, hear, smell and feel. Each week brings a unique theme, so the content shifts from one session to the next. You can expect original and traditional songs and rhymes chosen for early speech and language development, sensory signing activities to encourage communication from birth, and a mix of creative play, tummy time, movement, visual stimulation, textures and scents. The signature song plays at the start of every class. Sessions end by mimicking womb sounds to help babies settle.

The room layout is arranged to match the distance at which babies see objects clearly, and instrument volumes are measured to ensure they are not too loud. The venue has wheelchair access. Parents are welcome to feed or cuddle their baby at any point during the session.

The programme was developed by Dr Lin Day (PhD, M.Phil, PGCE, BSc), who has over 40 years of practical experience working with parents and children and is a Senior Associate of the Royal Society of Medicine. She designed and wrote all lesson plans, training handbooks and course materials across the Baby Sensory programmes. The developmental grounding is specific: the most significant advances in a baby’s brain structure occur in the first three months, during which an estimated two million new brain cell connections form every second. By the end of the first year, the brain doubles in volume as a result of sensory learning.